What Happens When Acts 2 Walks Out The Door

If Restoration Church closed its doors tomorrow, would Jersey Shore notice?

Of course we would notice. But would our community? Would the schools, businesses, families and organizations around us feel the loss?

It’s a hard question. Restoration Church has been part of this community for 34 years.
And yet we still hear, “I didn’t know that was a church.”

Recently, I've had a change of mindset. Maybe it’s less about how we get more people through our doors and more about what happens when we walk out of them. 

We love Acts 2. We preach Acts 2. We pray for Acts 2. And we have experienced Acts 2.

But Acts doesn’t end in Acts 2. The Holy Ghost wasn't given simply so they could have an experience. They received power that was meant to go somewhere.

That's why we have Acts 3 - because Acts 2 walked out the door.

In Acts 3, we read about Peter and John who were on their way to the temple to pray when they encountered a man who had been unable to walk since birth. They were doing something good. Something spiritual. They had somewhere to be. But they were willing to let their schedules and their plans be interrupted.

We can become so focused on doing church things—or even getting to church—that we miss an opportunity to be the church along the way.

When God puts someone in our path, are we available enough to notice? Look at what happened when Peter saw this man through fresh, Holy Ghost-filled eyes!
 
For years, people carried this man close to the presence of God. They laid him at the gate of the temple, where religious people passed him on their way inside. But today, something was different. Somebody stopped. Peter could have given him some money. He could have offered him a meal. He could even have invited him into the temple. And none of those things would have been wrong. Give. Build a relationship. Invite. Those are good things.

But Peter understood that he was carrying something this man needed more.
“Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee...” — Acts 3:6

When the man in Acts 3 stood and began walking, leaping and praising God, people noticed. They knew who he had been and now could see the transformation.

His transformation created curiosity. How much more should we want to live lives that demand an explanation. “I knew who they were before. But something is different now.”

What a reputation that would be for Restoration Church - for our community to say, "there's a church full of people Jesus is changing."

And changing matters. Because following Jesus isn't simply about a transformation that happened years ago. We should remain transformable. Can God still change my mind? Convict me? Interrupt my plans? Show me someone I've been walking past? Ask me to surrender something?

The impact of the miracle didn't end with this man. Because transformation creates a ripple effect; it drew a crowd. But Peter didn't stand back and assume everyone would figure things out. He opened his mouth and pointed them to Jesus.

We already know how to talk about the things that excite us. Restaurants. Places we've visited. Products we love. When we discover something wonderful, nobody has to teach us to say, “You have got to try this!” Yet somewhere along the way, perhaps we have reduced sharing Jesus to simply inviting someone to church.

Now I'm not against inviting people to church - keep inviting them! An invitation is a wonderful thing. But an invitation to COME can never replace the command for us to GO.

Jesus never commanded the world to come to church. He commanded the church to go into the world: “Go therefore and make disciples...”

We have prayed for souls for years. We've prayed for the "suddenly" that was prophesied in our early days. And we should keep praying.

But what if the suddenly is on the other side of GO?

Pentecost happened suddenly—but then they went. See, the book of Acts isn't the story of 120 people sitting in the upper room for the rest of their lives waiting for another suddenly. It's the story of Spirit-filled people taking what they had received into the world around them.

Acts 3 happens when Acts 2 walks out the door.

We need a vision for Jersey Shore that goes beyond us. We should have a vision for our families, our children, our prodigals, our marriages and our church. But if our vision ends with our families saved, our children doing well, our needs met, and our church being healthy, then it's still only a vision for us.

I don't want Restoration Church to merely exist in Jersey Shore for us. I want us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this community.

So let's return to the question: If Restoration Church closed tomorrow, would Jersey Shore notice? What if someday the answer is yes because Restoration is everywhere?

Not the organization. The people.  People who are willing to stop. People who are willing to see. People who are willing to step out in faith and pray for that stranger. People who are excited to share how God is transforming them. People who aren't merely existing in Jersey Shore, but who are affecting it.

People, who like Peter, say, “Such as I have, give I thee.”

And watch what Jesus can do. Another person can be transformed. Another marriage can change. Another family impacted. Another household transformed. And eventually, a community can begin to feel the effects of transformed people living in it.

Maybe somewhere on the other side of our obedience, there's a suddenly we haven't seen yet!